Saturday, July 30, 2016

Meet Korea's Biggest Hearthrob Lee Min Ho (His Perfect Day Off Includes a Ton of Sleeping!)

Lee Min Ho draws excited screams and maybe even a few tears everywhere he goes – and this weekend, the star heads to Hollywood to spend some quality time with his fans.

"I'm most excited and thrilled about meeting the U.S. fans," the actor tells PEOPLE exclusively about attending KCON – anannual K-pop convention – for the first time in L.A. "I'm looking forward to seeing and experiencing this amazing event myself."

The entertainer, 29, is set to open the convention's concert and has nothing but fond memories of America.

"One of my best friends whom I spend my school years with lives in L.A.," he says. "The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of L.A. is him."

While he's mostly traveled overseas for work and not for play, Lee did spend some time in Malibu – which he recalls as Los Angeles' "most impressive place" – to film his television series The Heirs a few years ago. And although his fan base rivals that of Hollywood superstars Brad Pitt orJustin Bieber, the heartthrob still thinks of his fans as "old friends."

"Although we don't get to see each other often, they always welcome me with lots of love and support whenever and wherever they are," he says. "I feel happy . . . like I am meeting my old friends whenever I visit countries overseas and meet the fans."

And with rarely a day off in his busy schedule, a perfect day off for the star is filled with, well, a whole lot of nothing.

"Whether it be reading as many books as I want when I feel like it, listening to music all day when I'm down for it or sleeping for as long as I want, if I can do whatever I'd like to do for as much and long as I want, that would be my perfect day off," he says.